Earth-boring tool.



N. H. SMITH EARTH BORING TOOL. APPLICATION FILED MA'Y2'0.191e.

Paten bed June 18; 1918.

Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEWTON H. SMITH, OF HAMILTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOWILLIAM 'C.

. HOWELL, OF KEOKUK, IOWA.

EARTH-BORING TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 18, 1918.

Application filed May 20, 1916. Serial N 0. 98,832.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, NEWTON I-I. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hamilton, in the county of Hancock and State of Illinois, have invented. a new and useful Earth-Boring Tool, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to earth boring tools primarily designed for use in boring into the ground so as to permit the la ing of gas plpes or small water pipes wit out the necessity of digging excavations.

Earth boring tools of this character as heretofore devised have been objectionable for the reason that the auger used has loosened the dirt and, after the tool hasbeen forced a certain distance through the ground, it has been necessary to withdraw it for the purpose of removing the loosened dirt engaged by the auger. Because of this necessary removal of the auger, the boring operation has been hard and tedious, particularly where bores of considerable length were to be produced. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a tool of this character having a disk designed to loosen the soil and which disk may be extended from a feed screw preferably tapered toward its front end and which screw serves to pack the soil outwardly, thus densifying the wall of the bore and gradually increasing the diameter of said bore so that the operation of the tool can be continued as long as no unyielding obstruction is encountered, friction being reduced materially and the displaced soil being taken care of by packing rather than by removing it.

A further object is to provide the tool with antifriction packing devices which operate to press the walls of the bore outwardly during the rotation of the tool in one direction but which automatically retract when the rotation of the tool is reversed, so that said tool can be easily removed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction, hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within a scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the presite directions from the axis.

ferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the soil engaging portion of the tool.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line A-B Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section on line C-D Fig. 1 and showing the antifriction packing rollers shifted to their active positions.

Fig. 4 is a section on line EF Fig. 3.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a tapered feed screw to the small end of which is connected a bit 2. Extending from the large end of the screw is a tapered reamer including a body 3 provided with longitudinal ribs4 the advancing faces of which are eccentrically disposed as indicated at 5 and curved gradually outwardly to the extreme edges 6 of the ribs the back faces of the ribs being concaved abruptly as indicated at 7 and merging into the convex faces of the adjoining ribs. Thus it will be seen that when the tool is rotated in a clockwise direction, these cam faces of the ribs will act as packing elements for pressing outwardly against the Wall of the bore in which the tool is located. As the reamer is slightly tapered, during the longitudinal movement of the tool this packing action will be continuous.

Connected to the rear end of the reamer body 3 is a core 8 consisting of a central portion 9 concentric with the axis of rotation of the tool and end portions 10 and 11 which are eccentrically disposed relative to the longitudinal. axis of the tool, the two end portions 10 and 11 being offset in oppo- On each of these eccentric portions of the core is mountwhen rotated to one position upon its core, to lie with its outer face concentric with the axis of rotation of the tool-but, when this sleeve is moved away from such position, as during .the clockwise movement of the core within the sleeve, said sleeve is gradually shifted ,to an eccentric position. until it has completed a one half revolution. The movement of the sleeve relative to the ed aneccentric bearing sleeve 12 designed,

core is limited by a stud 13 extending into a groove 14 formed within the sleeve and extending approximately half-way around the sleeve or any other desired means can be used for this purpose.

On each of the bearing sleeves is mounted a roller 15, this roller obviously shifting with the sleeve into or out of eccentric po-' sition. IVhen the two rollers are in their positions concentric with the axis of rotation of the tool, they obviously aline with each other and approximately with the rear end of the reamer body. When, said rollers are shifted to their eccentric positions, due to the clockwise rotation of the core within the bearing sleeve 12, they will shift outwardly beyond the body of the reamer so that the rollers will press against the walls of the boreat diametrically opposed points. If desired, a roller 16 may be mounted upon the central or concentric portion of the bore 9, the diameter of this roller being the same as that of the rollers 15. .A

rod 17 is adapted to be connected to the rear end of the core 8 and it is to, be understood that this rod can be made up of sections designed to be coupled together as necessary. I

In using the tool, the bit 2 is forced into the ground to loosen the soil and the screw 1 follows after it. The other parts of the tool are drawn along by the screw as will be obvious. The screw 1, being tapered, serves to press the soil outwardly. Any soil remaining between the threads of the screw will pass between the ribs on the reamer and as this reamer is rotatin in a clockwise direction, the cam-faces 5 t. e'reof will press the loosened soil outwardly and pack it in the wall of the bore, thus densifying the wall and making it smooth and hard.

After the ribs of the reamer have acted upon the wall of the bore, the packing rollers 15 come into action. When the rollers 15 are in engagement with the wall of the bore the eccentric bearing sleeves during the rotation ofthe tool in a clockwise direction, will be shifted from their concentric to their eccentric positions and, consequently, the rollers 15 will be shifted outwardly out of line with each other. Thus the rollers will press against the wall of the bore and will roll therealong, completing the packing operation and also reducing friction.

Should it be desired to withdraw the tool from the bore, it would merely be necessary to rotate it in a counter clockwise direction. Thus the bit and the screw would unscrew from engagement with the soil and the rollers 15 would be partly or entirely retracted. As the diameter of the bore would be somewhat greater than the greatest diameter of the reamer 3, the ribs 14 would not seriously break down the wall ofthe bore during this removal.

Whilerods can be used for forcing the tool through the ground, it is to be underhowever,

stood that if preferred, the pipe sections to be laid can be coupled to the tool so that after the tool has been forced through the ground and has been brought to the extreme position to which the pipes are to be extended, said pipes will be in position without any further operation.

nder some conditions either the rollers 15 or the reamer?) can be dispensed with.

While the tool herein described is particularly designed for use in laying pipes, it is to be understood that the same can be employed advantageously wherever it is desired to produce an opening in the ground for any purpose.

lVha-t is claimed is 1. Atool of the class described including a boring element, packing rollers coupled to the boring element, means for automatically shifting the rollers to eccentric positions relative to the axis of rotation of the tool during the rotation of said tool in a clockwise direction and for retracting the rollers to concentric positions during the counter clockwise movement of the tool.

2. An earth boring tool including an auger, a core revoluble therewith and having oppositely olfset eccentric portions, a sleeve mounted for rotation upon each of said offset portions, said sleeves having'eo centric core receiving openings, means for limiting the rotation of the sleeves, said sleeves being concentric with the axis of rotation of the core when at one limit of their movement and eccentric thereto when at the other limit of their movement, and packing rolls mounted for rotation upon the sleeves.

3. An earth boring tool including a tapered auger, a bit at the small end thereof, and smooth faced packing and smoothing rollers revoluble with the auger and shift able into and out of eccentric positions relative to the axis of rotation of the tool.

4. An earth boring tool including a bormg element, and means revoluble with said element for enlarging the bore and packing and smoothlng the wall thereof, said means including eccentric portions, sleeves mounted for ro tation on.said portions and having eccentrio openings in which the core is mounted,

of uniform diameter mounted a core having oppositely 'olfset" 

